Washington Capitals: 2013-2014 By the Tens -- Forwards: Tom Wilson

"A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go
back to its old dimensions."

-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

On April 26, 2013, Tom Wilson had an assist for his Plymouth
Whalers’ on a game-tying goal with just 4:33 in regulation, capping a furious
Whaler comeback from a 4-0 deficit to force overtime in Game 5 of Plymouth’s
Ontario Hockey League playoff series against the London Knights. Alas, London
would score in overtime to eliminate the Whalers and end the junior hockey
career for Tom Wilson.

Two weeks later Wilson would find himself dressing for Game
5 of the Washington Capitals’ Eastern Conference quarterfinal playoff series
against the New York Rangers. Alas, the Caps would lose that series in a
seventh game.

On October 1, 2013, just 466 days after Wilson was drafted
16th overall by the Capitals in the 2012 entry draft, he found himself in the
Caps’ lineup in the 2013-2014 season opener in Chicago to face the defending
Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks. Alas, the season did not end well for the
Caps, as they failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2007.

Before you start thinking that maybe Tom Wilson had
something to do with the outcomes described above, stop. We mark them only to
point out that it has been something of a whirlwind ride for Wilson in less
than six months, from competing in a playoff series in junior hockey to doing
so on a bigger stage just weeks later to finding himself in the Opening Night
lineup in the NHL at the tender age of 19.

Maybe it was too fast, at least the last part about making
the Opening Night roster for the Caps to start the 2013-2014 season. That,
however, was a strategic decision taken by the Caps due to a lack of a full
range of alternatives. Personnel rules dictated that the Caps’ choices were to
keep Wilson on the parent roster or return him to Plymouth for a final year of
junior hockey. Giving him a year in Hershey to hone his skills with the Bears
was not an option.

So, young Tom Wilson got to spend his apprenticeship at the
top rung of the organizational ladder. What he did not get as part of this
apprenticeship was a lot of experience, at least on the ice in games. Wilson
averaged 7:56 in ice time per game. Of 34 rookie forwards playing in at least
half of their teams’ games this season, Wilson was 32nd in average ice time.
Here is another way to look at that. Wilson skated 651 total minutes this
season in 82 games, 24th in total minutes among rookie forwards. Tampa Bay’s
Nikita Kucherov just above Wilson with 682 minutes, but he did it in just 52
games played (13:06/game).

Wilson, as befits his limited ice time, did not rank
especially highly among his rookie forward cohort – 39 in points (10), tied for
41st in goals (3), tied for 33rd in assists (7), 31st in shots on goal (63).
There was an area in which he did rank highly, though. Wilson led all rookie
forwards by a wide margin in penalty minutes with 157 (24 more than Edmonton’s
Luke Gazdic). He was just one minute behind Tampa Bay defenseman Radko Gudas
for the top spot among all rookie skaters.

A large portion of that was the product of Wilson’s
willingness to stand up for himself and teammates. He was fifth in the league
in fighting majors (14). But there was a general edginess to his game that was
reflected in his penalty profile. If you look at the penalties of a more
violent nature, Wilson has a broad-spectrum resume: roughing (6 penalties/12
minutes), high-sticking (2/4), cross-checking (2/4) elbowing (1/2), boarding
(1/2), charging (3/9, including a major penalty), instigator (1/2), and
slashing (2/4). Add in a game misconduct and two ten minute misconducts, and a
total of 139 of his 151 total penalty minutes (92.1 percent) were the product
of his “edginess.”

His apprenticeship was brief in terms of ice time; we did
not say it was easy.

Fearless’ Take… How many players did Tom Wilson play more
than 100 minutes with this season at 5-on-5? Jay Beagle, Aaron Volpatti, and…
uh, that’s it. Beagle and Volpatti. And you wonder how he put up meager
offensive numbers?

Cheerless’ Take… Cuz, Wilson played more than five 5-on-5
minutes with 17 forwards this season. Know how many he played with where they
had a Corsi-for percentage over 50 percent? Martin Erat and… uh, that’s it. Erat.

Fearless’ Rebuttal… Hold on, cuz. Take a look at Beagle and Volpatti, those two guys he spent most of his time with. With Wilson, Beagle
was 49.1 percent; apart he was 41.7 percent. With Wilson, Volpatti was 42.6
percent; apart Volpatti was 28.6 percent (no, that is not a typo). Even Erat
was worse apart from Wilson (49.7 percent) than with him (54.1 percent),
although you might chalk that up to quality of competition effects.

Odd Wilson Fact… Tom Wilson was one of only three rookie
forwards to play in all 82 games this season. The others were Nathan MacKinnon
and Tyler Johnson, who also happen to be finalists for the Calder Trophy for
rookie of the year.

Game to Remember… November 5th versus New York Islanders.
You always remember your first, and for Tom Wilson there were two of them on
this night. The Caps were hosting the
Islanders fresh off a Gimmick win over the Florida Panthers that got the Caps
to 7-7-0, the first time they were at .500 since they split their first two
games of the season.The Islanders were
feeling fat and happy having won consecutive games for the first time in the
2013-2014 season, the second win coming at the expense of the Boston
Bruins.

The teams exchanged the lead several times.New York scored first on a goal by John
Tavares early in the first period.The
Caps grabbed the lead on goals by John Carlson and Alex Ovechkin, the latter on
a power play, 75 seconds apart early in the second.The Isles tied it 17 seconds after the
Ovechkin goal, but the Caps took the lead back just 2:12 later on a Marcus
Johansson power play goal.Then, just
1:20 after the Johansson goal, the Caps stuck in the dagger.

Wilson started the play when he collected a loose puck in
the Capitals’ zone, turned up ice, and backhanded the puck across the ice to
Steve Oleksy heading up the right wing.Oleksy carried it to the Islander line, then sent the puck back to
Wilson filling in on the left side.With
a burst of speed, Wilson leaned hard into the middle, drawing a delayed
tripping call from Frans Nielsen as he reached the top of the crease and
tumbled to the ice with Nabokov going down to try to seal the left side of the
net.Wilson did not give up on the play,
though.From the seat of his pants to
the left of goalie Evgeni Nabokov, Wilson threaded a pass through the skates of
Islander Josh Bailey and onto the stick of the Caps’ Alexander Urbom.From the top of the left wing circle, Urbom
wound up and fired a slap shot past Nabokov before he could scramble to his
feet, giving Urbom his first NHL goal in almost two years and Wilson his first
NHL point.

The Caps made it 5-2 before the second intermission, but
there was still one item of unfinished business.With 15:25 gone in the third period Thomas
Hickey was sent off for holding Alex Ovechkin.On the ensuing power play the Caps worked the Islanders in their own
zone for a faceoff when a puck was deflected into the crowd.On the next draw, Mikhail Grabovski pulled
the puck back to Ovechkin who faked a shot and walked the puck a couple of
steps down the left wing.He retraced
his steps to the top of the faceoff circle, then threw the puck into the middle
where Wilson was sliding into the slot.Wilson redirected the puck past Nabokov for his first NHL goal and first
multi-point game in the Caps’ 6-2 win.All in all, Wilson had a “Wilson Hat Trick,” a goal, an assist, and a
ten-minute misconduct penalty he took with seven seconds left.

Game to Forget… December 10th versus Tampa
Bay.On a night when pucks would be
flying into nets with alarming frequency, Tom Wilson would barely get a sniff
of the action, let alone get in on the fun.The Caps fell behind early to the Lightning, 3-0, just 11:07 into the
game.That put a premium on offense for
the Caps, and Wilson being as green as he was, head coach Adam Oates super
glued him to the bench.The strategy
paid off, the Caps clawing all the way back to tie the game with 32.4 seconds
left before winning it in the trick shot competition.For Wilson it was a short, forgettable
night.Five shifts (only one in each of
the second and third periods), 3:17 of ice time, no points, no shot attempts.

In the end…

It is one thing to come up short when presented with
opportunities to excel.If this had been
the case with Tom Wilson, you might say, “okay, at least it was a learning
experience.”But in this instance Wilson
logged fewer than 700 total minutes for the season and did it largely with
linemates who might have dragged down his performance more than vice versa.Even though Wilson dressed for 82 games it
would be hard to say just what the Caps have here.In the limited instances in which he was
given more responsibility or more exposure to higher quality teammates at the
offensive end he did not look out of place.Consider it something to build on; you’ll sleep better.

No comments:

WE INTERRUPT OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING

The Washington Capitals ended the 2016-2017 as one of 12 franchises in the NHL never to win a Stanley Cup. Of that group, only the St. Louis Blues (48 seasons), Buffalo Sabres (45 seasons), and Vancouver Canucks (45 seasons) have gone longer never having won a Cup than the Capitals (41 seasons). Six teams came into the league after the Capitals entered the league in 1974-1975 and have won Stanley Cups: Colorado Rockies/New Jersey Devils (1976-1977), Edmonton Oilers (1979-1980), Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche (1979-1980), Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes (1979-1980), Tampa Bay Lightning (1992-1993), and the Anaheim Ducks (1993-1994).

The other stuff

Pictures, logos, and the occasional quotes used here are the intellectual property of other folks (unless otherwise noted) of considerably more productive imagination than the author of the original stuff read here, which is our very own.